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THE MISSING PART ON A GUITAR? YOU

You’ve got plans, you make plans, and there’s always a missing part.
If you’re getting older and reading about the aging brain, you start worrying about your brain, and everyone your age with a functioning brain.
What about that baby boomer brain? Is it getting slippery? Harder to hold on to?
Then you read something about playing a musical instrument to improve focus and sustain concentration.
Sound like you yet? It goes two ways:
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YES, I CAN HEAR YOU. ARE YOU LISTENING TODAY?

I’m listening today, like every day, for that special spark of something, something interesting, but I’d settle for less.
Short of that, I hope for something that jumps out from social media, something blog-worthy.
That’s a big deal with a blog, a big deal for writers, finding a topic to expand on.
Too often they look inward and tell of their struggles with what seems like normal, everyday, ordinary, life for the rest of us.
It’s not easy for everyone, and can grow more difficult with time.
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FULL MOON ROCK AND ROLL

It’s best to have a full moon and rock and roll playing during a lunar eclipse.
These ladies are showing the back catalogue.
Which one’s pink? I don’t know, but I see the dark side of the moon.
Music and celestial events go hand in hand, like Pink Floyd during a Pink Moon.
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DARK MOON RISING

The dark moon hit my eye last night in Portland, Oregon.
Tucked away on the 14th floor near the Willamette River with friends and drinks, I interrupted everything for a special announcement:
“I see a bad moon rising.”
It looked huge, this moonrise, and kept getting bigger and more interesting.
What’s not to like about a big moon breaking through the clouds?
Except it wasn’t the clouds. What the heck was going on out there?

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FLOWER CHILDREN? HECK YEAH FOR A HAPPY DAY

Heads up to all flower children: Swan Island Dahlias in Canby, Oregon are still in bloom.
If you missed the cherry blossoms, the roses in the Rose Garden in Washington Park, the iris bloom, sunflowers, and any others, this is your place.
It’s well groomed, thought out, and accessible.
No matter your age or disability, time spent here will make a happy day.
Here’s why:
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toughen up

CANCER EDUCATION, PAIN MANAGEMENT, LIQUID OXY

I am a sore throat expert. It’s a benefit of neck cancer education after I graduated from treatment. Of all sore throats in the history of sore throats mine was the worst, said everyone with a sore throat rated above an 8.5.

HOW TO COACH CANCER SURVIVORS

    The impact of cancer news hits far and wide, but it is a fastball to the face of the patient and they have no defense. Imagine getting clocked in the head like Tony C and waking up to that ‘new normal.’   Watching it happen in 1967 made a lot of Little League […]

GIVING CAREGIVING SHOWS EXTRA LIFE

The biggest booster from giving caregiving?   Adapted for Parkinson’s, it becomes “Hate the disease, love the relationships it builds.” It works for most every disease at every age. The idea of extra life works for all, too. Doctors treating Parkinson’s are the key relationship, but they need equally strong links to those in their patients’ lives. One link of […]

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boomer years

THE BEST BOB HOPE CHRISTMAS SHOW

When servicemen spent time away from loved ones, a Bob Hope Christmas Show helped. Christmas 1974, Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio, Texas. Part of joining the ranks of the new all-volunteer Army meant meeting a new bunch of guys. They weren’t sports guys, or college guys. They weren’t career guys, or upwardly mobile guys. Instead […]

THE GOOGLE FACE OF PORTLAND WHEN YOU’RE NOT LOOKING

What Outsiders Don’t See On The Front Page. Live here long enough and you know Portland is more than the next eastside trend, like bewildered 30-somethings riding bikes and having kids. So much more. Stephen Colbert pumps for Powells Books. LeBron James rolls with Nike. Anthony Bourdain shouts out for Pok Pok. They point to […]

HIGH GROUND TO VIETNAM VET MEMORIAL: a photo essay

“The high ground is good.” That’s what the old timer said. “And there’s not so many people.” I found him under the Vietnam Veterans of Oregon Memorial bridge, sitting in a lawn chair and handing out pamphlets on Veteran’s Day. Had his car parked on one side of a flowerbed and a walkway without a […]

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buckle up

MOST HISTORIC LUNCH COUNTER IN AMERICA

When you claim your place it becomes an historic lunch counter. This historic lunch counter is big history, and big history goes into the Smithsonian. The American History section shows the Greensboro historic lunch counter in its full glory. Put yourself in the same place and wonder what you’d do.

HILLSDALE BLUEBERRY BREAKFAST: 41 YEARS OF THANKS

    Forty one years of the annual Hillsdale Blue Berry Pancake Breakfast speaks volumes for the community. Business owners turn out and join in the set up, the cooking, and clean up afterward.   Maybe it’s the same everywhere, but maybe not.  For a Portland neighborhood that used to be the Fulton Dairy, it’s […]

BILTMORE: BIG MONEY BUILDS A BIG HOUSE

    Sneaking up on the big Biltmore House The first question is appearance. Not the house, you. What do you wear if you’re visiting the biggest privately owned house in America? This isn’t Disneyland and Sleeping Beauty Castle, so shorts and flip flops aren’t good enough? If that’s true, you’ll find dress code violations […]

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